Gone West by Carola Dunn

Author:Carola Dunn
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Macmillan
Published: 2012-01-16T16:00:00+00:00

EIGHTEEN

Barely concealing his impatience, Detective Inspector Worrall watched Etta light the fire and sweep up the dust. The moment she rose from her knees, he thanked her punctiliously—with a glance at Alec—then escorted her and her dustpan to the door and shut it firmly behind her.

Turning, he announced, “Birtwhistle died of chloral hydrate poisoning. No question about it, Dr. Jordan says. A certain amount of alcohol in his system, but not excessive. He definitely didn’t have a heart attack or a stroke, and there were no symptoms of nux vomica poisoning.”

“Did Jordan say how fast he would have reacted to a large dose?”

“Normally within half an hour, but you know how doctors are—they always hedge things about. Some react slower, some quicker. Whichever, he’d have gone to sleep, drifted gradually into a coma, and then just stopped breathing.”

“So the first thing we need to know now is whether Dr. Knox prescribed chloral.”

“I rang up Dr. Knox, sir. His housekeeper says he had very few patients this morning and he’s on his way back here. Should be here shortly.”

“Excellent.”

Worrall looked gratified. “Then I rang HQ to report. You’re not going to believe this, sir. Leastways, you haven’t mentioned it: Seems a couple more blokes from the Yard just turned up to join you.”

“Tom and Ernie!” Daisy guessed.

“DS Tring and DC Piper.”

“Alec, why on earth did you bring them all this way when you didn’t even know there was anything to investigate?”

“I didn’t,” Alec said grimly. “The Super told me I could send for them if I found I needed them. He must have changed his mind and sent them helter-skelter after me.”

“But why?”

“When he rang me up at home, he sounded worried about you. I assume he considered three of us would be better able to protect you than one.”

“But Mr. Crane loathes me! I always thought he rather hoped I’d be the next victim of murder, or else get arrested for it. He must be suffering from softening of the brain.”

Noticing Worrall’s amused interest in this interchange, Alec said repressively, “Nonsense.”

“Not to worry,” Worrall said. “Probably just our Mr. Oakenshawe on the fidgets. He’s the deputy chief constable, Mrs. Fletcher, and hardly dare blink in case the Colonel damns his eyes— Beg pardon! Tells him off for it when he comes back from the Highlands. I wouldn’t put it past him to have rung up your Mr. Crane again and asked for more men.”

“Not my Mr. Crane,” said Daisy. “But I’m glad Tom Tring and Piper are on their way.”

“They’ve been put on the train to Matlock. One of our chaps there is going to bring them up here. In the meantime, Superintendent Aves—the Matlock super—will have a man go round all the chemists in Matlock, asking about recent prescriptions for chloral.”

“Thank you,” Alec said with a sigh. “You’ve got things well under way. Depending on what Dr. Knox has to tell us, we may well need more men. In the meantime, Daisy, would you add a bit more detail to your picture of the household? Tell us about Mrs.

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